(July 20th 1982)
The plumed Blues and Royals were a noble spectacle as they rode their black mounts at a walk through London's Hyde Park. But as the cavalrymen marched past a parked sedan, a bomb hidden inside exploded. Windows shattered for blocks, flames burst high into the air and nails wrapped around the explosive shot out like bullets. Horses fell in a writhing mass, dying soldiers bled into the tatters of their ornate uniforms and a woman passer-by, her face shredded, screamed, 'Help me! Help me!'
Less than two hours later, on a bandstand in Regent's Park,
the band of the Royal Green Jackets 
was giving a
concert. As it played a medley from the musical 'Oliver!' a bomb
hidden beneath the stage exploded -- and the entire bandstand
erupted. 'Everything seemed to come up from the bottom of the
bandstand and flew right into the air -- the bodies, the
instruments, everything,' said Ronald Benjamin, a member of the
audience. 'A leg came within 5 feet of me.'
In one bloody day, the Irish Republican Army once again
brought itswar against the English to England. Even by IRA
standards, last week's carnage was extraordinary: the blast at
Hyde Park killed 4 cavalrymen and injured 22 guards and
civilians; in Regent's Park, 6 bandsmen died and 24 musicians and
4 civilians were injured...The terrorists planned their attack
carefully. They parked a blue Morris sedan on Carriage Road,
about 600 yards along the cavalry's daily route. Hidden inside
was up to 10 pounds of gelignite explosive wrapped with hundreds
of 4- and 6-inch nails. As the Blues and 
Royals passed, an
IRA member, probably hidden in the trees of Hyde Park, punched a
remote-controlled detonator...The bomb [in Regent's Park] was
planted under the floorboards of the stage. It was similar to the
earlier bomb, but apparently worked on a timing device instead of
remote control..."
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